Last year Jon Webley picked up the best bowling figures of the season when he blew the Riffs tail away with 5 for 0. This year it was back to his stronger discipline as he made them pay for dropping him twice & notching up a match winning score bolstering Pacific's reply.
That the game took place to it's completion defied the worst of forecasts. The heavy rain never materialised, & the light rain came too late to make a substantial difference although fielders did sometimes struggle to keep their footing late on. Riffs performed admirably given that they were 2 light although not enough to impress the "1 woman & her dog". Surely the moment of the day was, upon learning that Riffs had amassed their total from 40 overs, she shouted across the ground that "you should be ashamed". Priceless.
James Gleadow usurped the club skipper on the day and having cleared the footballers from the pitch promptly loss the toss. The Riffs surprisingly batted and Sheldon Greenland grabbed two quick wickets whilst Chris Atkin tied down the other end. This put Pacific on top and enabled Gleadow to rotate the bowling and the Riffs were only 58/3 after 20 overs. Bridgett bowled a fine spell up the hill on debut but the Riffs made steady progress to end up 143 all out off the last ball of the innings.
The Pacific reply started steadily enough through Peter Hollman and Kurt Rademaker but it was a Jon Webley / Joe Bennett partnership for the fourth wicket that effectively secured victory. Webley, who had been prevented from bowling more than three balls by a shoulder injury, rode his luck initially as he was dropped twice. Eventually it clicked as he made 82 off 66 balls in a super knock. Late wickets caused a scramble for pads but Darren Tempany powered Pacific over the finishing line.
A winning start for Gleadow in his first game as captain but ultimate credit for the opening victory goes to Webley and the bowling of Greenland and Atkin XI: Pete Hollman, Sheldon Greenland, Jon Webley+, Chris Atkin, Darren Tempany, Kurt Rademaker, Giaco Bridgett, Alistair Pritchard+, Justin Roy James Gleadow* & Joe Bennett Debuts:-Sheldon Greenland, Giaco Bridgett & Justin Roy. Captaincy debut:- James Gleadow.
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